This wasn't the way this New Orleans Pelicans season was supposed to go. They came into the 2024-25 NBA campaign with lofty hopes.
Last year, Zion Williamson strung together the healthiest year of his career, playing in 70 games. After that showing, he continued his momentum by slimming down significantly over the summer while touring China with his fellow Jordan brand stars. The Pelicans addressed a major need by trading for All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray, giving Big Z a natural playmaker to set him up again for the first time since Lonzo Ball.
Equipped with a roster full of high-profile scorers between Zion, Murray, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum, New Orleans was a team that no one wanted to see in the playoffs, even if they did have some glaring roster issues outside of their top players.
That all went out the window starting with Trey Murphy III's hamstring strain at the start of training camp. From there, the injuries began to pile up as did the losses for the Pelicans. Fast forward two-and-a-half months and New Orleans is firmly at the bottom of the Western Conference standings and on the verge of a franchise teardown. Outside of some flashes from their young players, there's not much to celebrate coming out of the Smoothie King Center right now. Despite the New Orleans Pelicans' abysmal campaign so far, the franchise has done little to earn the support of their fans.
The New Orleans Pelicans insult their fans to salt the wound from their dismal season
When a team is 5-27, it's expected that the organization would go above and beyond to find ways to keep their fans interested and sell tickets. The Pelicans might have the record part of that statement locked down, but it doesn't appear that they've caught up on the rest of it yet.
Perhaps it's because they came into the season with playoff aspirations. It's not usual for a team featuring talents like Zion, Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray, and CJ McCollum to need to get creative to draw attention and sell tickets. But, the Pelicans are clearly in a unique position. They might have top-level talent, but they're record is literally bottom-tier, as has been their on-court performances.
So, they really raised parking prices from $30 to $40 in the Superdome for Pelicans games?
— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) December 27, 2024
When the team is 5-25!?
Who was the dipshit in charge of the market research on that one?
Zero long term vision. They still treat the handful of remaining fans like trash.
Not only has the Pelicans franchise failed to sell their fans on this team and its failing season, but it's apparently gone out of its way to insult the few loyal fans remaining. According to Pelicans fan and podcaster Scott Kushner, the organization raised the price to park at the Superdome for Pelicans games from $40 to $50. Under Kushner's post, another user, Brett Duthu, stated that he received a marketing email from the team attempting to sell courtside seats to a game for a cool $2000. A flurry of fans chimed in, nearly all of which echoed the same sentiment: the Pelicans organization is out of touch and insulting to its fans.